As I understand it (i.e., as its been explained to me), you should be
able to determine if your joints are bad by jacking up the front end and
trying to wiggle the wheel top to bottom.  If there's no play, the
joints are okay.

-Wes
'84 1.9l

dusty edwards wrote:
> i've been meaning to get my '90 westy into the shop to have the upper
> ball joints replaced.  i believe this is the repair that my mechanic
> suggested to fix the creaking in the front end, and if i'm
> right..........well, apparently this job isn't as complicated as i
> thought it to be.  i'm no master mechanic, but i try to do what i can
> on my own.  i located this website:
> http://volksweb.relitech.com/uballjnt.htm
>
> is it this simple?  is there no realignment needed
> afterwards???.....which is mostly why i was going to let my mechanic do
> the work.  if so, (my next question) what preventative maintenance is
> recommended while doing this job.  i believe that i've heard somebody
> say that while you're in there you should replace the struts, etc...
> (???)
>
> thanks for the help!
> dusty.
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>  "(o)-----(o)--"
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